Morning came too fast for me, especially waking up to the sleeping face in my arms. Not wanting to move a muscle, I looked at Kayda's adorable sleeping face in annoyance, knowing it wouldn't last very long.
Then her eyes opened, soft gold catching the morning light. "You're staring."
"Hmm, and you are cute," I said, deadpan.
She smiled. "Liar."
"Sure, I'm scientifically observing. My hypothesis is that you drool in your sleep, rawr," I said, kissing her forehead.
"No need for sarcasm," she said, sitting up, crawling out of my arms.
"Probably," I said, stretching, tails flicking once before settling. "Coffee?"
"Only if you make it this time."
"Why? My coffee is lethally strong."
"Exactly." SHe said
I rolled my eyes but dragged myself out of bed anyway. The floor was cold, which was not very welcoming, even for me, someone who loves the cold.
Sighing in regret, I got up and went to the small tea/coffee table in the corner. I took the kettle and used mana to heat up the water inside. For a second, I just watched.
"Are you going to bring that coffee, or are you planning to study the steam until it gets cold?" Kayda asked, still in the bed. The warm bed forced me to leave.
"Both, rawr,"
Her laugh made the room sound less empty. Seeing that I wasn't really doing much, she finally stood up and helped me make the coffee together.
We ended up outside with the mugs standing against the railing as sunlight steamed off the wet stone. The airfield gleamed below—rows of soldiers already in motion at the military base on the other side of the wall.
"They've started early," Kayda said, sipping.
"They need to be prepared for the battles to come, or, well, if they ever get going," I said.
Kayda hummed. "True, but hopefully it doesn't get that far."
"There will be fights; they will need to be part of it, Kayda."
"Oh, of course there will be, but hopefully it won't be an all-out war."
"That's being very optimistic," I said, glaring at her.
"Well, your squad has been part of it from the beginning."
"Yeah, well, they are part of the stronger groups. So they need to stand up," I said with the minimal amount of pride I could show.
We leaned against the railing, shoulder to shoulder. From up here, it was easy to pick them out one by one.
Down below, Chinada and Sirone moved in perfect tandem—Sirone's light glyphs shimmering across the practice field while Chinada adjusted her stance, sniping targets the moment they show themselves. Every shot hit dead center. They didn't speak, didn't need to. Sirone's calm made Chinada's boldness look almost elegant.
"Still ridiculous," Kayda said quietly. "That kind of synchronicity takes years."
"They got bored of arguing," I said. "Started finishing each other's sentences instead."
A few meters away, Rin and Brit were less subtle. Rin's blade rang against Brit's shield in a furious exchange that looked more like a fight than training. Sparks danced; insults flew louder than the weapons.
"Left side's open, slowpoke!" Rin yelled.
"Your aim's a rumor!" Brit shot back with venom.
"They talk as if we don't know they are flirting," Kayda murmured.
"It's their love language," I said. "Volume and concussions."
If you ever do that to me, I will be very upset. Kayda said, leaving the last bit unsaid, but I knew what she would do to me, and I would rather not want that ever.
Across the field, Brenda and Olivia ran drills with brutal precision—Brenda barking coordinates, Olivia marking each formation with a glowing rune. They moved like a command post in motion: professional, steady, and predictable. The kind of rhythm that built armies.
"Still the grown-ups," Kayda said.
"Why did my squad end up like this?" I replied with a raised eyebrow.
We both watched as Brenda adjusted Olivia's stance—fingers brushing the other woman's wrist longer than necessary. Olivia didn't move away. Kayda's eyebrow rose. I just sipped my coffee.
"At least they aren't, well, touchy-touchy in the public." She said, narrowing her eyes at me.
"I have never done anything in public," I corrected, looking away.
Near the southern ring, Toma and Sarian were supposed to be sparring but were mostly seeing who could show off harder. Toma's gauntlets flared with earthen runes, and Sarian's glaive spun arcs of fire. Between attacks came laughter that carried all the way up to us.
"They're going to set something on fire," I said, changing the subject.
"Good bonding exercise," Kayda said dryly.
"Or arson."
"You aren't one to talk about that," she said.
"Fair," I said, not going to argue with her.
Then, in the far corner, there were Apricot and Nekro. Their duel was quiet and surgical—no banter, no smiles. Blades and shadows, motionless moments between perfect strikes. The tension between them could have anchored a ship.
"Ah, those two are actually doing something together?" Kayda said with a raised eyebrow, and I agreed.
"Well, at least they are professional enough," I said, shrugging, not wanting to think too much about it.
"You're going to have to address the problems at some point, Kistu."
"Yes, ma'am, rawr."
The last pair stood a little apart. Mia and Ava. Mia hovered awkwardly behind Ava, pretending to adjust a rune amplifier that didn't need adjusting, while Ava watched Sirone's glyph patterns like a hawk.
Kayda followed my gaze, smirking. "Mia's crush hasn't improved."
"Nope," I said. "But she's persistent."
"And Ava still doesn't notice?"
"Notice? She's jealous of Sirone."
Kayda blinked. "Ah, right."
"Yeah."
We both sipped at the same time, synchronized like we'd practiced it.
Kayda tilted her head. "You built a good blueprint, well, if you take out the relationship problem."
"Mm. They built themselves," I said. "I just stopped them from killing each other long enough to get efficient."
"Don't be too proud of them."
I smiled into my cup. "Maybe. Rawr."
She looked over, a smirk playing at the edge of her mouth. "You realize every time you do that, I hear it as punctuation."
"I'm perfectly grammatical," I said.
"Grammatically flustered."
"You still understand it."
We watched another exchange below—Rin throwing Brit into a sand pit and cheering like she'd just won a war. Sirone and Chinada ignored them entirely. Brenda sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose, and barked an order that reassembled the chaos in seconds.
Kayda leaned forward on the railing, arms crossed, eyes scanning the group with the focus of both a teacher and a warrior. "They've grown stronger. Even Rin's controlling her temper better."
"She lost her temper a few times in the extraction mission the other day," I said, not agreeing with Kayda.
"Progress," Kayda said again.
I watched her eyes follow the squad's movements, noting every correction in posture and every tactical mistake. I could practically hear her teacher brain ticking.
"You're doing it again," I said.
"What?"
"You're overanalyzing them as if they were better than they were the last time you saw them, while they most likely aren't much different."
She side-eyed me. "Force of habit."
"Don't overestimate my squad; they are still human," I said quietly.
That made her pause. Her expression softened, and for a moment, her hand brushed mine along the railing. "Don't be an overprotective mother."
"Come on," I said. "Let's remind them we exist."
Kayda finished her drink, setting the empty mug neatly on the rail. "Try not to make them too nervous."
"Me? I'm not that, rawr."
"Mm-hm."
Going back inside, we both changed our clothes to more casual, exercising clothes.
After we descended the stairs to the courtyard. The squad noticed us halfway down—Rin first, of course. She elbowed Brit, who nearly dropped her gauntlet.
"Captain!" Rin shouted, far too loud. "Look who's finally awake!"
"Alive," Brit corrected. "There's a difference."
The group straightened instinctively. Brenda stepped forward, posture clean as ever. "Captain, ma'am."
"Calm down," I said, waving a hand. "Before Rin starts performing again."
"Too late!" Rin said cheerfully, trying to balance her blade on one fingertip.
Kayda gave her one of those teacher stares that could freeze fire. Rin caught it mid-performance and promptly sheathed the weapon. "Right. Training. Yes, ma'am."
Olivia smirked. "Still the mother figure."
"Always will," Kayda replied.
'What?' I thought, looking at Kayda, who obviously didn't want to talk about it.
Shrugging at her, I walked around inspecting them a bit closer, though it was needed, but let them just know that I was still evaluating them.
"Any interesting things happened?" I asked.
"Not yet."
"Yet?"
"We haven't received any missions for this week yet."
"Alright," I said. "Ten sets of each, and then we can go eat."
"What!" Rin yelped in regret.
"15 for you, Rin." I said, starting our normal exercise sets I have given them to do every day from the start of the creation of this squad. Obviously, Kayda and I joined them in the 10 sets.
"I don't know why you still make them do this."
"Are you complaining?"
"No, I do this as well on my own. It helps with flexibility."
"..." Hearing what she said, I smiled at her.
"Fair."
"Don't tell Stacy you said that. She'll start assigning you paperwork."
"I'll tell her you said it, rawr!"
"She'd believe that."
"Probably."
We went to the mess hall inside after the drills ended, leaving Brenda to run the cooldown. From above, the courtyard looked peaceful—the squad scattered across the yard in twos and threes, laughter drifting up like music you didn't need to understand to enjoy.
Sitting down at a big enough table for everyone, we had our boring, mass-produced food for thousands of shoulders.
"So you proud enough to go with them on missions now?" Kayda asked.
"I was never against going on missions with them. I just felt that I could do things faster on my own."
"Yeah, and now you can't anymore, especially with your mana vein problem."
"Yeah, I can't even take out my own food from my storage without making them scream in agony," I said, picking at the food in front of me.
Her hand found mine again, fingers curling without needing permission. For a moment, everything—the light, the sound, and the smell of rain still clinging to the air—felt perfectly balanced.
That's when the shadow moved.
At first, it was just a shape against the wall—thin, dark, and wrong in how it didn't follow the light. Then it detached, rising into the vague outline of a person. No ripple of mana, no flare of intent. Just presence.
Kayda's hand drifted to her hip out of instinct, but she didn't draw. I didn't either. You don't draw on Stacy's shadows—her personal operatives are used for command summons and reconnaissance.
The figure knelt once, voice calm, androgynous, and perfectly measured. "Captain Kitsuna. Lady Stacy requests your presence in command."
Kayda's grip on my hand tightened once, then released. "Guess the world's waking up again."
"Yeah," I said. Putting down my utensils, I looked at the show, and then Kayda gave her a kiss. I straightened. "Tell her I'll be there shortly."
The shadow inclined its head and faded back into the wall, leaving no trace but a ripple in the light and mana.
I exhaled and glanced at Kayda. "Back to work, rawr!"
She smiled, calm and knowing. "Try not to make her regret calling you."
"No promises."